Résumé - Ben New

Workhouse Advertising

• Senior Web Developer: May 2010 - Aug 2010
• Head of Digital: Aug 2010 - Dec 2010

Workhouse Advertising is an advertising agency that has operated in Perth for over 30 years working in traditional media for clients including major retailers, real estate developers, insurance companies and others. The agency has recently expanded into the online market, including websites, email marketing, mobile marketing, social networking, viral campaigns and cross-media promotion.

My role was a technical and team leadership position that covered almost every aspect of the company's digital operations, from strategy and planning to development and deployment of web, email and mobile communications as well as in-house tools, standards and processes.

I worked closely with the business owners, with clients, and with my team consisting of three web designers, a junior developer, the digital Account Director and an administration assistant. The digitial team's work also frequently interacted with the agency's Account Service team as well as the Creative and Studio teams.

Leadership & Management Responsibilities

• Decision making on development approaches, and selection and development of standardised tools and processes.
• Providing technical leadership, coaching and support to other team members and other employees within the agency.
• Improvement and promotion of processes and standards, including coding standards, code reviews and validation, use of the team wiki and project planning approaches.
• Providing estimates and project documentation for projects of various sizes, types and scopes.
• Project planning and management, primarily using a Scrum-like approach.
• Interaction with other teams within the agency.

Technical & Developer Responsibilities

• Development and deployment of web, email and mobile campaigns, often involving integration with other media.
• Development of websites using a variety of different systems and frameworks, both OTS and custom.
• Development of custom databases with MySQL and integration with PHP.
• Processing and management of large volumes of data including subscriber databases, product databases, and images using a variety of tools, including Linux scripting, SQL, spreadsheets and web-based tools.
• Development and implementation of many custom tools, including a custom CMS, email mass-mailers, management and administration tools, and other in-house solutions.
• Search engine optimisation for multiple websites across many business domains.
• Hosting administration and domain management.

Major Tasks, Projects & Achievements

• Development of a custom, PHP-based, template-driven website framework.
• Development of a custom, PHP-based Content Management System based on in-page editing and modular enhancement.
• Planning, concept, development and implementation of a web-based kitchen appliance display application for a major national retailer.
• Development and implementation of many websites for a range of different clients.
• Major improvements to internal infrastructure including a Subversion repository, a team wiki, standards, processes, and major IT hardware purchases and upgrades.

Stella Travel Solutions

• Application Developer: Nov 2009 - Mar 2010

Stella Travel Solutions is a Perth-based, international company with operations in many aspects of travel, including flights, cruises, coach tours and adventures. The company operates many websites, using .NET with the .NET MVC framework for recent developments and maintaining several legacy PHP-based sites. The .NET systems use MS SQL Server databases while the PHP-based systems use MySQL. Stella Travel Solutions also develops web-based technologies for external clients including leading Australian travel agents.

The team consisted of 6 developers and 5 graphic designers. My primary role was development and maintenance of systems that retrieve data from external sources to populate the in-house databases. I was also responsible for the maintenance of the legacy, PHP-based websites, and their conversion to the .NET platform and .NET MVC framework.

Primary Responsibilities

• Development and maintenance of .NET web applications and MS SQL databases.
• Development and maintenance of .NET data aggregation and integration systems backed by MS SQL databases.
• Maintenance of PHP web applications and MySQL databases.
• Conversion of PHP web applications and MySQL databases to .NET applications and MS SQL databases.
• Development of web frontend components using both jQuery and MooTools JavaScript frameworks.
• Time estimates and time recording for all tasks.
• Unit testing and user interface testing.
• Integration and deployments.

Major Tasks, Projects & Achievements

• Creation of a data integration system which retrieves data from various providers in many different forms using many different XML schema, and updates in-house databases with the retrieved data.
• Improvements to and maintenance of a browser-based "ripper" system, which extracts airfare sale information (prices, dates, departures and destinations) from airline websites, and updates in-house databases with the retrieved data.
• Maintenance of several websites including BestAdventures.com.au and BestCoachTours.com.au.
• Ongoing testing and improvement of all components.
• Ongoing internal and customer support.

Living Years / Titan Interactive

• PHP Web Application Developer: May 2009 - Oct 2009

Living Years is a social website developed by Titan Interactive, a Perth-based web development company. Living Years is based on the Zend PHP framework and jQuery JavaScript API, utilising JSON calls over AJAX to provide a complete Web 2.0 implementation. The site provides "living" memorials for deceased individuals, allowing users to add media and comments via a user-driven moderation system.

I was one of a four-person team responsible for the design and development of the website, including database, PHP and frontend components. I was involved in all aspects of this Scrum-based development project, including planning, architecture, design, code, testing, support, deployments, documentation and review.

Development was completed with more components completed than initially expected and the site was launched successfully in October 2009.

Primary Responsibilities

• Development of PHP code utilising the Zend Framework.
• Development of a Web 2.0 style frontend (XHTML, CSS and jQuery).
• Development of components that interact with web services including Amazon S3/EC2, YouTube, Gravatar and Geonames.
• Ongoing development of the MySQL database persistence layer.
• Development of reusable PHP classes and jQuery plugins.
• Iterative analysis, design and development within the Scrum methodology.
• Time estimates and time recording for all tasks.
• Investigation of latest technologies and techniques.
• Input into user interface design, look and feel, etc.
• Unit testing and user interface testing.
• Linux desktop with LAMP and Eclipse PHP Developer Toolkit.

Major Tasks, Projects & Achievements

• Creation of a web-based social networking application based on memorials.
• Creation of a guestbook component.
• Creation of a multimedia gallery component backed by Amazon and YouTube.
• Creation of a content-rich reminder system, which interacts with many existing data sources.
• Creation of many administration functions of the site.
• Creation and enhancement of various other components of the application.
• Implementation of full Internationalisation in all components.
• Ongoing testing and improvement of all components.
• Ongoing internal and customer support.

Bank of Western Australia

• Java/Web Developer (Contractor): Oct 2008 - Mar 2009

At BankWest, I was in a development role working on the Business Risk Grading System. This is an enterprise system with a web-based frontend used by the bank to determine the level and type of risk associated with various investments. My role was to implement new risk analysis models in the software.

Primary Responsibilities

• Development of Java code, including backend, middle tier and web frontend components.
• Interaction with project and business representatives to discuss useability and performance issues.
• Input into initial planning and design, related to ongoing project work.
• Providing support to business analyst during definition of and modifications to functional specifications.
• Unit testing and user interface testing.
• Usage of the Rational suite of applications, including the RAD IDE and IBM WebSphere application server.
• Self-management and time management, considering the relative priority of varied tasks assigned to me.

Major Tasks, Projects & Achievements

• Implementation in BRGS of the Large Corporate model and the Sub $1million Property Development model.
• Development of a web component which acts like a spreadsheet application, allowing users to navigate within and manipulate the data within a grid presentation.
• Development of a testing harness, which automated much of the testing effort required for the calculator code associated with any model.
• Enhancements and code improvements to existing models and code within the BRGS application.

Western Power

• Java/Web Analyst/Programmer (Contractor): Nov 2007 - Oct 2008

I worked at Western Power in a highly varied development/support role. I was involved in second-tier support of over one hundred existing applications, as well as several key development projects. Web services are a core component in Western Power's application architecture, and as such I was responsible for the development of several Java web service clients, as well as a standard process for developing such clients.

Primary Responsibilities

• Development of rich web applications using Web 2.0 technologies; this was a first for Western Power.
• Development and maintenance of web-based applications using Java, JSP, Servlets, XHTML, CSS and XML.
• Development and maintenance of applications based on Struts and Java Server Faces (JSF) frameworks.
• Development and maintenance of Java libraries and reusable web-based user interface JavaScript components.
• Development of web services and clients in an ESB architecture.
• Involvement in the complete product life cycle, including estimation, prototyping, presentation to customers, integration and deployment.
• Usage of the Sun Java System Application Server, NetBeans IDE, Oracle RDBMS and associated tools.
• Support of over 100 existing applications including on-call support work.

Major Tasks, Projects & Achievements

• Lead developer of a small team on the SMMITS II project. This was a near-complete rewrite of a key system that assists Western Power in management and maintenance of the electrical network. The software is utilised by all Market Participants including power generators and major consumers, and it interacts directly with the Independent Market Organisation (the State regulatory body).
• Sole developer of the Public Interruption Information web application, which delivers dynamic GIS views of electrical service interruptions via web or mobile web. This application is considered high-profile, as it exposes business-sensitive data to the general public.
• Involvement in several other development and architecture projects.
• Involvement in process improvement at various levels within the IT Group.
• Second-tier application support, including bug-fixes, system failure recoveries, data massaging and minor enhancements.
• Updated static web content using Serena Collage CMS.

Computer Associates / Landgate

• Java/Web Developer (Contractor): Mar 2007 - Oct 2007

In 2007, I worked for Computer Associates at Landgate (WA Land Information Agency) in a highly varied role, which included taking direction from many different projects and departments simultaneously. In a short period I rewrote the Landgate corporate website to conform to W3C standards, and this was the catalyst for a much broader consideration of compliance, accessibility and related issues within the organisation. I was also involved in various Java and JSP/Servlet applications in a portal environment.

Primary Responsibilities

• Development of web-based applications using Java, JSP, Servlets, XHTML, CSS and XML.
• Usage of a custom application framework based on the WebLogic application server.
• Development within a CleverPath portal environment and on the Apache Tomcat application server.
• Interaction with many aspects of business to elucidate and confirm requirements and to demonstrate prototypes and designs.
• Self-management and time management, considering the relative priority of varied tasks assigned to me.
• Creation of multimedia content including graphics and Flash content.

Major Tasks, Projects & Achievements

• Re-implementation of the corporate website using W3C compliant XHTML and CSS, improved accessibility, and correct separation of content, structure, layout and style.
• Development of a web-based user interface for locating and extracting reports from varied sources using the Apache Tomcat application server.
• Implementation of additional functionality to an existing enterprise application on the WebLogic application server.
• Involvement in a strategic decision process regarding implementation of standards and improvement of accessibility.

ADI Limited / Thales Australia — Special Operations Command Support System (SOCSS)

• Senior Software Engineer: Jan 2006 - Dec 2006
• Software Engineer: Jul 2004 - Jan 2006
• Systems Engineer: Jul 2005 - Dec 2006
• Support Engineer: Dec 2004 - Dec 2006
• Software / Test Engineer (Contract): Apr 2004 - Jul 2004

SOCSS is a Java-based, military situation awareness tool for specifically designed for the Australian Special Forces. It includes an intelligence and collection management system, an event log, a GIS planning system, and a presentation tool, as well as a custom data and file replication system. While working at ADI / Thales, I fulfilled several different roles simultaneously, as indicated above.

Primary Responsibilities

• Implementation of software components using Java (J2SE) 1.4 and 1.5, Oracle 8i and 9i, Tomcat, JSP, JSTL, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, JUnit, Ant, JMX, RMI, XML and XSLT, using Eclipse IDE.
• Object Oriented Analysis and Design using Enterprise Architect and Visio.
• Utilisation of Struts framework, Hibernate ORM and Jakarta Commons.
• Software unit and integration testing using formal processes.
• On-site software support and training of military personnel in the use and administration of SOCSS software.
• Systems engineering, including integration of the SOCSS application to a Defence SOE, utilisation of Active Directory / LDAP, integration with Lotus Notes, and utilisation of VMWare.
• Demonstrations of new features and enhancements to customer representatives.
• Mentoring of other team members and skill-sharing.
• Assisting with process improvement.

Major Tasks, Projects & Achievements

• Creation of a custom Java file replication system with a rich client management application, which communicated via JMX.
• On-site SOCSS software support and support team leadership during a major counter-terrorism exercise ("Operation Acolyte" for the Commonwealth Games, 2006).
• Involvement in analysis, design and implementation of the SOCSS Java software and Oracle database on an ongoing basis.
• Creation of a separate JSP/Servlet-based web application on the Apache Tomcat Java application server for equipment requisitioning.
• Task management for various projects and tasks.

Leftclick.com.au

• Owner Operator: Nov 1998 - Feb 2004

I operated this business in Fremantle for several years and completed some major projects. During this period I was involved in the full range of tasks required of any software development organisation, from marketing and business management, through the software development life cycle, to deployment and support. I had many customers with small requirements, including static or largely-static websites, website alterations, data conversion and technical reports. I also had several major projects for larger clients.

Primary Responsibilities

• Software analysis, design and implementation using a variety of languages including Java (J2SE) 1.3 and 1.4, J2EE 1.3, Oracle database 8i, C/C++, Perl and Lotus Notes.
• Web design and implementation using XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, JSP, ASP and other technologies.
• Software testing and website compatibility testing.
• Business management & marketing.
• Development and implementation of software engineering processes.

Major Tasks / Projects / Achievements

• A J2EE system with an Oracle database and a Java/Swing client application, for tracking insurance claims, and predicting future claim trends, for the Insurance division of BGC, a major building company.
• A hybrid Lotus Notes / Java applet system for management of risks, incidents and controls for a major Perth resort / casino.
• An Oracle-based online shopping or "reverse auctioning" system.
• Many public and internal websites built using HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript and Java applets.
• Ongoing collaboration work with a Risk Management provider.